Long
synonymous with aviation's “golden age,” the
Weaver Aircraft Company (soon to be known by
its acronym WACO) was founded in 1920 in
Lorain, Ohio by George “Buck” Weaver, Elwood
“Sam” Junkin, Clayton “Clayt” Bruckner and
Charles “Charlie” William Meyers. For the
next 26 years, the WACO name would be
associated with a popular line of versatile
open-cockpit and cabin biplanes.

Bruckner and Junkin actually began designing
aircraft in 1919 with a flawed plan for a
floating airplane that never flew. Meyers,
too, had already designed an aircraft with
Weaver and the pair approached Bruckner and
Junkin, asking them to join their
construction efforts on a single-seat
monoplane named the “Cootie.” Unfortunately,
Weaver crash-landed the Cootie during its
first flight attempt and suffered extensive
injuries in the crash.

The
WACO partners persevered, designing a
practical three-seat biplane, the WACO 4,
and building it out of parts left over from
the Cootie and other biplane efforts. The
team continued to assemble airplanes from
parts salvaged from surplus World War I
Curtiss Jennys, continuously tinkering with
their designs and making improvements.
Eventually, they sold two WACO 5 biplanes.

Weaver
Aircraft moved to Troy, Ohio, in 1923 and
the company name was changed to the Advance
Aircraft Company although the aircraft
retained the WACO designation. The company
became a pioneer in the development of
reasonably priced, easy-to-fly small
aircraft and the first Troy-built model in a
long line of WACO aircraft, the WACO 6, was
soon being marketed.

The
next aircraft design, the three-passenger
WACO 7, powered by a Curtiss OX-5 engine,
was modestly successful with 16 aircraft
sold. In 1924, the first cabin WACO aircraft
was manufactured, the six-passenger WACO 8,
featuring an open cockpit positioned behind
the cabin for the pilot and co-pilot. Only
one WACO 8 was ever sold and it was
eventually used to aerially map the Ozarks.

Following Buck Weaver's death in 1924, Clayt
Bruckner and Sam Junkin reorganized the
business and soon introduced the company's
popular Model 9 (or Nine) in 1925. Powered
by a Curtiss OX-5 or Wright Hispano engine,
the WACO Nine delivered better performance
than the readily available war surplus
Curtiss Jennys at a affordable price.

The WACO 9 was state-of-the-art for its
time.

The
design of the Nine was state-of-the-art for
its time—a fabric-covered wooden wing
structure strengthened with welded steel
tubing. The front cockpit was equipped with
a bench seat that accommodated two
passengers with a single cockpit for the
pilot in the rear of the aircraft. An engine
radiator mounted under the forward edge of
the upper wing became a distinguishing WACO
trait.

The
stylish WACO Nine made a good showing during
the 1925 Ford Air Tour. The accompanying
publicity quickly translated into increased
aircraft sales and 276 Nines were sold
between 1925 and 1927. An outstanding
barnstormer, more than 14 Nines competed in
the 1926 National Air Races with several
finishing first in their events. WACO Nines
also saw duty as crop-dusters—the airplane
could be outfitted with floats for water
landing—and were also used as an early
commuter aircraft.

1927 Waco 10

The
improved WACO Model 10 replaced the Nine in
1927, featuring a larger wing area, bigger
cockpit, an adjustable stabilizer, and the
first shock absorber landing gear built into
a small aircraft. The WACO 10's performance
was markedly enhanced and the aircraft was
sold with several different engine options
(OX-5, OXX-6, Hispano-Suiza and Wright J-5
Whirlwind).

Noted
for quick and straightforward takeoffs, a
speedy rate of climb and equally tolerable
landing speeds, the WACO 10's performance
soon made it the most popular small aircraft
in the United States. By 1927, more than 40
percent of small aircraft sold in the
country were WACOs, including 350 WACO 10s
at a sticker price of $2,460 (with the OX-5
engine). The WACO 10's reputation extended
to the air race circuit as well: an OX-5
engine-powered model won the 1927 New York
to Spokane, Washington, transcontinental Air
Derby (Class B) and a Wright J-5-powered
WACO 10 won the National Air Tour the
following year.

Advance Aircraft went on to manufacture the
notable WACO Taperwing in 1928 and then, in
1929, the company officially renamed itself
the WACO Aircraft Corporation to correspond
with its now-famous line of aircraft. In
1931, WACO entered the burgeoning business
aircraft market by introducing its
four-passenger “QDC” cabin biplane to
compete with such established manufacturers
as Bellanca and Stinson.

The
QDC label marked the 1930 introduction of a
cryptographic system of model designation
that WACO used to identify its various
models. The first letter identified the
engine-type, the second the wing style, and
the third the fuselage design. Each letter
also indicated if the aircraft was built
before or after 1930—a very confusing
conglomeration of letters that required a
scorecard to decipher.

WACO
replaced the QDC in 1933 with its most
successful cabin design—the UIC. Powered by
a 210-horsepower Continental radial engine,
the UIC was a four-person biplane with a
conventional fixed tail wheel landing gear.
The well-appointed cabin was accessed by
automobile-style doors on each side, with a
pair of individual front seats and a roomy
rear bench seat for another two passengers.

The WACO
UIC was its most successful cabin design
plane.

The
UIC's fabric-covered fuselage was
constructed from welded steel tubing, shaped
with wooden formers and stringers while the
wings were fabricated with spruce spars,
spruce and wooden ribs, and aluminium edges.
Ailerons on both wings were covered in
aluminium and connected with push-pull struts
that operated them in pairs. The UIC's
stable handling characteristics were
considered to be forgiving, with good
performance. Delivered with a full set of
flight controls and instrumentation, the UIC
was priced at a modest $6,000—well within
the reach of smaller corporations and
airlines.

WACO
delivered 83 UICs before replacing the model
with the UKC/YKC/CJC series of cabin
aircraft in 1934. These trendy airplanes
became a favourite of aviators like
Jacqueline Cochran and corporate magnates
such as Henry Dupont.

WACO
continued to refine the aircraft design and
accessories on an annual basis, but retained
the basic configuration to maintain quality
and avoid the high costs of wholesale
redesign; as a result, selling prices
remained stable and affordable.

Production of WACO civil aircraft was
suspended in 1942 after U.S. entry into
World War II. The company contributed to the
war effort by building assemblies for a
variety of military aircraft and
manufactured the well-known CG4-A
troop-carrying gliders.

The WACO CG-4A was the most widely used U.S.
troop/cargo glider of WW II.

WACO
ceased producing aircraft in 1946, another
victim of the post-war general aviation
bust, but the brand still enjoys enormous
popularity among aviation enthusiasts. Many
WACOs remain flying today, their style and
mystique evoking images of aviation's
“golden age” or, in the words of one WACO
fan, “After the last WACO gracefully flies,
the sky will become merely air."

Kit
versions of the Waco are now available.

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